Magazine type razor



Jan. 2, 1968 J. B. TOWNSEND ET AI- `3,360,856

y MAGAZINE TYPE RAZOR I2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1966 FIGS FIGB

INVEN TORS BLAH END i GEORGE JAMES B. TOW

KM @M 'Q ATTOR NEYS United States Patent 3,360,856 MAGAZINE TYPE RAZOR`lames B. Townsend, 236 N. Oliver 67208, and George l. Ablah, 9100 E.13th St. 67212, both of Wichita, Kans.

Filed Aug. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 575,662 3 Claims. (Cl. 30-40.1)

ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a cutting instrumentcommonly known as a razor, and, more particularly, to a razor having acontinuous type blade. Still, more specifically, the invention relatesto a razor having a wire-type blade movable to place successive unusedportions thereof in operable positions whereby the razor can be used forextended periods without requiring replacement of the blade.Additionally, this invention relates to a razor instrument havinginterconnected supply and take-up cartridges operable on rotationthereof to position a Wire-type blade within a specially designed guidechannel means whereby the supply cartridge is adaptable to contain ayears supply of cutting edges even with the use of a separate one daily.

Numerous types of razors are known in the prior art having elongatedblades or flexible strips operable to place an unused portion thereof ina cutting or shaving position. However, these devices are limited in theamount of cutting edge available and, additionally, the structures arebulky and expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, the prior art devicesvare complicated in structure having multiple moving parts resulting innumerous operating and maintenance difficulties.

In preferred specific embodiments of the invention, a razor is providedfor shaving and the like having a housing means in which is rotatablymounted a supply cartridge or spool and preferably `a take-up cartridgeor spool operable to selectively supply a blade means through analigning and guide channel means. The housing means has an upper mainbody or casing connected to a base handle member which is removable forreplacing the supply cartridge as required. Within the main body, thetake-up cartridge is of a spool shape having an elongated stabilizerstem extended within a hole in the handle member. The supply cartridgeis rotatably mounted about the stabilizer stem adjacent the take-upcartridge. The upper surface of the take-up cartridge and adjacent innersurface of the main body .are formed with mating ratchet means toprovide rotation of the take-up cartridge in only one direction. Aspring member is mounted withinthe hole in the handle member about thestabilizer stem against a shoulder thereon to resiliently maintain theratchet means in operable engagement. In order to rotate the takeupcartridge, a cylindrical connector or stub shaft extends through anopening in the main body and is secured to a rotatable knob member. AnO-ring seal is mounted about the knob member against the main body toprevent water and the like from entering into the housing means. Theblade means consists of an elongated Wire having a cutting edge or bladetherealong and having opposite ends connected to the take-up cartridgeand the supply cartridge, respectively, with an intermediate portiontrained through the aligning and guide channel means. The wire blade isthreaded through the aligning and guide channel means which is operableto rigidly hold the same against rotational movement and frictionallyresist axial movement thereof. The wire blade is readily ilexible in alldirections so as to be easily positioned in the aligning and guidechannel means so as to expose only an elongated cutting Patented Jan. 2,1968 edge therefrom. The wire blade can be of any wire type shape suchas rectangular, square, triangular, and the like, as shown in theadditional embodiments of the blade means and corresponding aligning andguide channel means of this invention, having portions thereof cut awayto expose a sharp cutting edge for the intended purpose of the razor.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new andnovel razor overcoming the above-mentioned disadvantages of the priorart devices.

Another object of this invention is to provide a razor having anelongated blade providing a plurality of eifective blade changes in onecontinuous length.

A further objectof this invention is to provide a razor having anelongated flexible and pliable blade movable in substantially alldirections for ease of usage and storage.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a razor having asupply cartridge and a take-up cartridge operable to selectivelyposition yan unused portion of an elongated exible wire blade in anoperating position as desired.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a razor having analignment and guide channelvoperable to receive an elongated exible wirewith a cutting edge and hold the same rigidly against rotationalmovement and frictionally against axial movement.

One object of this invention is to provide a razor having a compact,maintenance-free structure operable to selectively supply new portionsof an elongated blade without requiring operator handling thereof forobvious safety reasons and usable for extended periods of time withoutrequiring the removal and replacing of the blade.

One other object of this invention is to provide a razor that is simpleto use, compact in size, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Various other objects, advantages, and features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdiscussion taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the razor of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational sectional view taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the razor of this invention having portionsbroken away to illustrate the alignment and guide channel means thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a blade means and aguide channel of the razor of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view along line 5 5 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one blade means of therazor of this invention; and 1 FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are enlargedcross-sectional views lof various embodiments of the blade means oftherazor of this invention.

The following is a discussion and description of preferred speciiicembodiments of the razor of this invention, such being made withreference to the drawings, whereupon the same reference numerals areused to indicate the same or similar parts and/or structure. It is tolbe understood that such discussion and description is not to undulylimit the scope of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIG. 1, therazor of this invention, indicated generally at 14, includes a s-upportor housing means 15 having a cartridge means 16 comprised of a supplycartridge or spool 17 and a take-up lcartridge 19 rotatably mountedtherein to carry and selectively transfer an elongated blade means 20.

4a bottom Wall 31 having an enlarged access opening 33 therethrough.Therefore, it is seen that the main body 22 .defines an inner enlargedcavity 35 adapted to receive the vworkingrnechanism of the invention aswill be explained.

The handle member 24 includes a cylindrical hand hold Vportion or shaft37 having a closure plate 38 mounted on the upper end extendedtransversely therefrom. The outer peripheral edge 40 of the closureplate 38 is of an irregular S-shaped contour adapted to lit ininterlocking engagement with a correspondingly shaped locking edge 41 ofthe main body v22 about the vperiphery of the opening 33 to completelyenclose the same. As the main body 22 and the handle ,member 24 arepreferably constructed of a plastic material, the area about thevopening 33 can be heated and deformed to receive the closure plate 38in a generally snap-in operation to provide a rigid, waterproof sealedstructure. It is obvious that the outer surface of the hand hold portion37 can be scored or formed with light serations to achieve a roughenednon-skid surface to aid in the ,grasping of the razor 14 during usage.The upper end of the handle member 24 is formed with a circular cavityyor hole l42 extended through the closure plate 38 adapted to receivethe take-up cartridge 19 in the assembled condition.

The take-up cartridge A19 has a central spool with an inner cylindricalsection 44 and a pair of parallel retainer walls 46 and 47, Integralwith the cylindrical section -44 l and extended Vlaterally of theretainer wall 47 is a stabilizer .stem or shaft 49 operable to controlrotational movement of the take-up cartridge 19 as will be explained.Extended laterally of the other retainer wall 46 is a stub shaft 51adapted to receive aknob member 53.,Adjacent the lower tend of thevstabilizer stem 49is formed an integral shoulder portion 54 extendedlaterally therefrom.

The supply cartridge 17 `is also of a generally 4spool shape having acentral tubular or Ihub section 55 to which is connected laterallyextended parallel guide walls 56 and 57 of substantially the same lengthand vsize as the retainer Walls `46 and 47 of the take-up cartridge 19.The yhub :section 55 is formed with a central hole 59 adapted to receivethe stabilizer stem 49 as will be explained.

In assembly :of the razor 14, the take-up cartridge 19 is first placedwithin the enlarged cavity 35 of the main Ibody 22 with ,the stub .shaft.51 vextended through a vsimilarly sized opening 61 Vin the top wall 26.The :supply ,cartridge 17 is .mounted about the stabilizer stem 49 andthe blade means 20, which is carried on the hub section 55, is trainedthrough an aligning and guide channel means 63 in the front wall 29ofthe main 'body 22 and connected -to the take-'up lcartridge 19. Inorder to retain the cartridges 17 and 19 within the cavity 35, theclosure plate '38 of the handle member 24 is mounted within the opening33 on locking engagement of the edges y40 `and 41, and

the stabilizer stem 49 is inserted within 'the hole 42. Also,

within the hole 42 is a compression spring member 65 having oppositeVrespective ends against the shoulder portion 54 and a bottom wall 66 ofthe hole 42 whereby the 20 from its supply cartridge 17 through thealigning and guide channel means 63 onto the take-up cartridge 19 aswill be further explained in detail.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the aligning and guide channel means 63includes an elongated guide channel 70 mounted within the front Wall 29so as to have a blade slot 72 open forwardly and outwardly therefrom.The guide channel is constructed of an irregularly shaped rigid materialpreferably mounted during the mold manufacturing process of the mainbody 22 in the front Wall 29. The guide channel 70 extends the entirelength of the front wall 29 having opposite end sections 73 curvedinwardly to properly guide the 'blade means 20 towards the take-upcartridge 19 from the supply cartridge 17. The guide channel 70 is alsoformed with an inner irregularly-shaped slot or groove 74 adapted toreceive the correspondingly sized and shaped blade means 20 to preventrotational vmovement and frictionally restrict the axial movementthereof.

More particularly as shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 6, the blademeans 20 is formed from an elongated exible wire 76 of circular shape intransverse cross-sec tion having cooperating arcuate portions 78 and 79cut away to leave an elongated cutting blade or edge 81. The lowerarcuate vportion 79 has its upper part extended substantially horizontalfor reasons to be explained. Diametrically 'opposed to the 'cutting edge81 is a V-shaped cutout portion 83 adapted to t in a similarly shapedprotrusion in the inside surface of the guide channel 70 to -prevent therotation of the blade means 20 therein. It .is seen in FIG. 4 that thekblade means 20 fits in nesting engagement with a substantial innersurface Aportion of the guide channel 70 and the cutting edge 81 extendsforwardly and outwardly of the blade slot 72 as in a conventional razor.This snug tit operates to hold the circular wire-type blade means 20against rotational movement and frictional contact of the abuttingsurfaces holds the same against axial movement except on rotation of theknob member S3.

In the use and operation of the razor 14 of this invention, the blademeans 20 is trained through the aligning `and guide channel means 63having opposite ends connected to the supply cartridge `17 :and thetake-up cartridge 19, respectively, as by the overlapping of adjacentturns of the blade means 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the top surface of theknob member v53 is formed or inscribed with turning arrows 84 toindicate the proper direction of rotation and, additionally, arrowheads86 thereon are used to ,show one completed rotation thereof. It is seenthat one rotation of the knob member 53, counterclockwise as viewed inFIG. 3, operates to move an .unused portion of the blade means 20 fromthe supply v.cartridge 17 into the aligning and guide channel means 63so as to present a fresh cutting edge 81available within the blade slot72 Yfor cutting purposes. At the same time, a `correspondingly usedportion of the blade means 20 is wound on the takeup cartridge 19 withthe desired resistance of movement of the blade means 20 generated bythe frictional engagement of the tight-fitting blade means 20 Within theguide channel 70. As shown in FIG. 5, the front wall 29 is provided with`a plurality of substantially upright projections 88 along the bottomsurface of the blade slot 72 adapted to guide and properly position, forexample, ya persons beard relative to the cutting Yedge 81as found inconventional razors.

In order to prevent rotation of the knob member 53 in the wrongdirection, the inner surface of the top wall v26 and adjacent portion ofthe retaining wall 46 yare formed with ratchet means 89 having lirst andsecond mating sections 9.1 and 93. It is obvious that on rotation of theknob member 53, counterclockwise as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the inclinedportions of the mating sections 91 and 93 permit rotational movement ofthe take-up cartridge 19 against the bias yof the spring member 65.However, the take-up cartridge 19 cannot be rotated clockwise, as shownin FIG. 3, as the upright abutting por- -tions of the mating sections 91and 93 prevent the relative movement of the same in this direction assimilarly found in conventional ratchet structures. The size of thecylindrical section 44 of the take-u-p cartridge 19 and the length ofthe blade slot 72 is regulated so that one complete rotation of the knobmember 53 assures the placement f an unused portion of the cutting edge81 within the blade slot 72 even on the rst rotation of the knob member53. This is necessary as the diameter of the takeup cartridge 19 iscontinually changed due to successive layers of the blade means 20 beingwound thereon. Additionally, it is obvious that the blade means 20 couldbe color coded to indicate when an unused portion of the blade means 20is spaced within the blade slot 72.

It is seen that the razor 14 of this invention presents a compact,lightweight structure usuable for shaving and the like in a conventionalmanner, having a blade means 20 readily replaceable with an unusedportion merely by rotation of the knob member S3. The extreme exibilityand small size of the blade means 20 permits the mounting of aconsiderable amount of the same within the main body 22 similar to aspool lof wire so that the blade means 20 can be used for extendedperiods such as a year or more without the necessity of replacement.However, it is obvious that the handle member 24 can be removed forreplacing the supply cartridge 17 if necessary. The razor 14 hasnumerous advantages in that the operator never has to touch or handle inany manner the cutting edge 81 so that possible injury to himself is ata minimum. Additionally, the conventional disposal of shaving bladespresents a considerable hazard in the handling of waste baskets byhousewives, trash collectors, etc., and this risk is completely removedby the razor of this invention.

In other preferred embodiments of the razor 14, the structure remainssubstantially identical except for the shape in transverse cross-sectionof the blade means 20 as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 and the correspondingshape of the aligning and guide channel means 63 which must be of asimilar inner contour for proper operation.

More particularly, as shown in FIG. 7, a blade means 94 is shown formedfrom a circular wire, similar to the blade means 20, having an identicalcutting blade or edge 81. A cordal portion 95 is cut away to leave aflat surface extended substantially perpendicular to the cutting edge81. It is obvious that this structure will provide a rigid surface,namely the portion 9S, to receive the inward pressure against thecutting edge 81 and operable with a similarly shaped guide channel (notshown) to prevent rotation of the blade means 94 in the same manner aspreviously explained for the blade means 20.

Another embodiment is shown at FIG. 8 having a blade means 98 formedfrom a square wire in transverse crosssection with adjacent sides 101and 103 cut away by arcuate portions 105 and 107, respectively, to forma cutting blade or edge 109. Rigidity and stability is achieved by theother sides 111 and 112 mounted within a correspondingly shaped guidechannel (not shown). It is seen that the -arcuate portion 107 cuts awaya larger section to achieve a substantially horizontally extendedportion of the cutting edge 109 for vbest cutting results.

Still, another embodiment of a blade means 115 is shown in FIG. 9,whereupon an isosceles triangular shaped wire is formed with arcuateportions 117 and 118 cut out of the sides 119 and 121 of identicallength, respectively, to form a cutting edge 123. The third side 124 isformed with a V-shaped notch 126 adapted to fit within a similarlyshaped protrusion in a corresponding guide channel (not shown) aspreviously described for the blade means 20.

It is obvious that the blade means 94, 98, and 115 will operate andfunction as previously described for the blade means 20 with the primaryconcern being (1) the provision of a proper interlocking contour toprevent rotation of the respective blade means within its correspondingguide channel; (2) providing engaging surface contact to frictionallyresist axial movement of the respective blade means during usage andonly permit movement thereof on rotation of the corresponding knobmember; and (3) having the blade means readily ilexible in alldirections so as to be usable similarly as a 'conventional wirestructure for easy storage and handling.

The razor structure of this invention provides an attractive structurethat is simple to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, and substantiallymaintenance-free. The housing means provides for encasement of all themoving parts which is desirable to prevent the loss'of any'parts whic-hwould make the razor useless. The use of the wiretype blade allows a newcutting edge to be used each time while having a supply of the bladesenough to last a year or longer. It is obvious that the use of astainless steel wire will allow the blade means to last indefinitely andthe cost of a wire-type -blade is considerably less than conventionalrazor blades. The new and novel razor of this invention provides safetyto the user as the external disposal of a cutting blade is not required.

Furthermore, it is seen that the use of a wire having a cutting edgetherealong presents a new and novel cutting tool which can 'be readilydispensed from a continuous wire spool or individual segments yasdesired. The wire blade can be readily dispensed in any given lengt-hfrom a cartridge similarly to the single-edged conventionally availablerazor blade dispensers of today.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description of the preferredembodiments of the applicants razor, a relatively simple and inexpensivestructure has been provided which is easily operable and maintainable soas to provide a new and novel cutting instrument. Applicantsconstruction eliminates a great deal of time-consuming and somewhat-hazardous work involved in changing blade structures in the razor andresults in a substantial monetary savings in the cost of razor blades.It is obvious that the razor of this invention could be manufactured andsold at a substantial savings relative to the prior art devices nowavailable.

We claim:

1. A razor comprising:

(a) support means,

(b) cartridge means to hold and supply Wire and mountable on saidsupport means,

(c) a guide channel in said support means having a portion openoutwardly therefrom,

(d) said Wire having a cutting edge therealong and positionable withinsaid guide channel with said cutting edge projecting through said openportion,

(e) said cartridge means having a take-up cartridge and a supplycartridge,

(f) said take-up cartridge having a laterally extended stabilize-r stemand a knob member extended transversely of said support means adapted tobe rotated to move said wire within said guide channel,

(g) said supply cartridge rotatably mounted on said stabilizer stemadapted to feed said wire into said guide channel on rotation of saidknob member,

(h) said stabilizer stem mounted Within said support means,

(i) ratchet means mounted between said main body and said take-upcartridge adapted to permit rotation thereof in only one direction, and

(j) bias means connected to said stabilizer stem to maintain bias insaid ratchet means to assure rotation in only said one direction.

2. A- razor as described in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said support means having a main body and a handle member,

(b) `said stabilizer stem mounted within said handle member, and

(c) said bias means having a spring member mounted about said take-upcartridge to maintain bias in said 7 ratchet means to assure rotation inonly said one direction.

3. A razor as described in claim 1,-Wherein:

,(a) said Wire of generally circular shape in transverse cross sectionhaving an irregularly cut-out portion diametrically opposed to saidcutting edge adapted to engage a like cut-out portion in said guidechannel to prevent rotational movement therein while permitting lateralflexibility in all directions upon placement and removal from saidtake-up and supply cartridges, respectively.

MYRON C.

References Cited t UNITED STATES PATENTS Hartness 30-51 Gent v 3040.l

KRUSE, Prima/'y Examiner.

